Street-level heat and air pollution exposure informed by mobile sensing

Heat and air pollution persist as major public health hazards in urban environments. Yet there are gaps in the quality of information about the hazards as conditions tend to be informed by limited stationary sensors providing information at large geographic scales. Here we present the results of a study that took place in Phoenix, Arizona, to assess the efficacy of low-cost mobile sensors on public transportation vehicles to monitor fine-scale on-road heat and PM10 concentrations. The goal of the study is to uncover the spatial and temporal variations of excessive heat and air pollution experienced by transit commuters, bicyclists, and pedestrians. The results show that the sensors on the buses complement the readings from stationary sensors and low-cost mobile sensors are effective for gaining fine-grained heat and air quality readings at different locations, thereby creating new insights into pockets of heat and air pollution that should be targeted for intervention.